by Lake, Keri
For fucks sake, I silently chastised myself. She’d almost been raped.
Squinting, I handed her the bottle of whiskey, and when she tipped it back, I studied the bobbing of her neck as the fluids slipped down her throat. My eyes trailed down to her dress and the silhouette of her curves that showed even in the dim light of the room.
She handed the bottle back to me, licking her lips, eyes selling her intent, and I’d have offered up my soul at her request. Her step toward me kicked my pulse rate into the red zone. Alarms blared inside my head, like the cavalry of sanity had come to beat some sense into my brain.
The palm of her hand slid beneath my coat, not even touching my skin, and had my chest rising and falling, as if I’d never been stroked by a woman’s hands. “Aubree … we …” My body rebelled by choking the words I should’ve said, and though her head remained bowed, her cheeks bubbled with a smile.
“I know.” She shook her head. “God, you must think I’m … some kind of freak. Almost raped, and I’m coming on to the man who …” Her face lifted. “Saved my life. I guess I’ve been the target of pain long enough to know the difference between a man who’d hurt me without remorse, and one who’d sooner hurt himself than lay a hand on me.”
Her gaze fell from mine, and I followed its descent to my hands, where blood trickled from my palms as I dug my fingernails into them. “You must be a fucking masochist to want anything to do with me.”
Her hand slipped beneath my shirt, making my stomach muscles clench on contact, and her eyes locked with mine. “Or maybe I see something deeper than the darkness you wear on the surface, Nick.”
What overcame me, I couldn’t say exactly, but I pushed her back, up against the counter. Perhaps by instinct, her fists lifted between us, but I hoisted her onto the island countertop, putting her level with my thighs, and pinned her wrists behind her, against the cold, gray tiles, before pressing my lips to hers. Soft and slick, they glided beneath mine and tasted like the sweet whiskey that coated them.
A moan purred inside her throat and the tension in her arms subsided, as she surrendered to me.
With both her wrists gathered in one of my hands, I yanked the front of her dress down so hard it tore the seam. One of her large, pert breasts popped free as I peeled back her bra. Fucking perfect, just as I’d fantasized. Her cold nipple piqued and hardened when I circled it with my tongue, and I groaned at the ease of conquering her. Her delicious sugar scent, like caramel and vanilla, filled my nose as I sucked her breast and flicked my tongue against her stiffened little nub.
Another soft moan escaped her, and she slid against the countertop as if she couldn’t keep herself upright. Her brow creased in a pained expression that I couldn’t read at first, until her half-hooded eyes lifted and her tongue swept lazily across her lips in a way that damn near screamed fuck me.
“Do you want me to?” The husky tone of my voice mirrored the tight thread of control I grappled to hang on to. I felt like a raging storm of lust ready to annihilate her as my thumb played against her nipple. “Do you want me to fuck you?”
Bottom lip caught between her teeth, she nodded, and I could damn near feel the sting of that fragile thread snapping inside of me. Like a beast set free from its confines, I lowered my hand between her thighs, nudged them apart, and wrenched her tiny panties to the side, nearly tearing the damn things right off of her.
Slow down. In long, agonizing strokes, I worked my thumb inside her silky seam, eyes locked on hers all the while. The soft flutter of her lashes accompanied the warm flush that colored her cheeks. Beautiful. I slid my index finger down over her pubic bone, to her slick entrance. Fucking hell. So goddamn tight and wet, my dick twitched at the thought of being inside her.
She cried out and jerked against me, like pleasure and morality battled inside her head.
There was no room for morals between us. We’d breached the line of decency and fallen into dark depravity. She’d become my willing victim, my muse, my toy to act out my most twisted carnal desires. No going back.
I glided my finger along her cleft and caught the slight tremble in her thighs. With my teeth, I tore the fabric from her other breast and imparted the same attention there.
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “Please!”
Lifting, I pressed my forehead to hers, squeezed my eyes shut. “Are you certain about this, Aubree? Because, fuck, I can’t go back. I can’t stop myself.” I just hoped to hell it wouldn’t end how it’d always ended with other women. I wanted to get lost in that scent, her sounds. Fall into that shadowy world of pain and pleasure, never to resurface again.
“I’m certain,” she whispered.
With hands that longed to roam every inch of her skin, I caressed her breasts with furious movements, tugging both nipples to hardened pebbles, before I yanked the dress over her head, leaving her body exposed. Ready for me to feast upon right there in kitchen.
Like fine, imported silk, her skin passed beneath my fingertips as I dragged my hands down her shoulders, to her arms. Nudging her jaw tipped her head to the side, allowing me access to her throat, where her pulse hammered against my tracing tongue. Her neck rippled with a swallow. Broken breaths hit my lips when I captured her mouth in a kiss. “You smell so good, Aubree. I could devour you right here.”
“Do it.”
A yank of her legs pulled her to the edge of the countertop, and I gave a gentle push against her chest, until she lay back on the surface, and draped her legs over my shoulders. So close to her bare pussy and the pink bud of her clit, saliva pooled on my tongue, and like a God-fearing man in prayer, I damn near fell to my knees, admiring the absolute perfection spread out before me. I kissed her navel and dragged my tongue down, down, to just above the sweet spot. The clean, fragrant scent of her arousal shot tingles to my jaw and struck some primitive part of my brain that coaxed me to ravage the woman like some kind of wild animal.
Slow. Take it slow.
She pushed upward and, balancing on her palms, circled her hips against the countertop in a slow, teasing motion. Gripping her hip with one hand, I used the other to spread her pink seam open and licked upward, smiling at her curses. Tongue buried in her soft folds, I curved my finger up inside of her, a slow finger fuck that complimented each long lick across her swollen clit. A moan rumbled at the back of my throat at her sweet taste. Wetness coated the finger I pumped in and out of her while I feasted on her like a starving man. I stopped only long enough to suck it off before inserting a second finger alongside the first.
I could’ve spent all night savoring Aubree’s body, learning all of her darkest desires, but the urgency burning inside of me told me to enjoy the moment while it lasted, before the blackness settled in and stole it away.
Her hands threaded through my hair, tightening as I tipped my head and sucked her clit with fervor, as though it’d all end any second. “Oh, fuck! Fuck!”
Her squirming beneath me did nothing to interrupt my focus—I couldn’t get enough of the woman. A growing need to hear her scream my name had me upping the pace of my fingers while spreading her folds to explore every inch of her beautiful pussy. With her thigh draped over my shoulder, I grabbed her ass to hold her in place, and felt her muscles contract in the palm of my hand while her body jerked in time to my pumping. Our movements were mad, furious, craving. With steady thrusts, I finger-fucked her while suckling her, licking her, bringing her to climax. I’d forgotten the taste of a woman, forgotten the smell of arousal beating through my senses, like a war drum begging for her to be debauched. I needed to feel her shatter around my tongue, to feel her milk my finger with orgasm, and hear her screams fracture inside my head.
I needed her to come. I’d hold out for that sweet sound, would push away the blackness just long enough to know I’d sated her.
Her breaths turned to panting. Her fingers dug, scraping into my skull. Soft moans turned urgent pleas of, “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
As if I could. As if I had any meas
ure of control right then that could keep me from what I needed, what she begged me for.
I paused only long enough to see her hands roving her tits, shamelessly feeling herself up while I went down, and I sank into something foreign, the undertow so strong, I feared I’d never surface from it. It’d been a long time since I’d given pleasure, and I wanted to give everything I had inside of me, all the fury and pain and desire—soul-stripping desire that left me a hungry and insatiable bastard. I wanted to give it all to her, watch her brows come together in an agonizing string of curses before she fell back, so glutted with satisfaction she couldn’t move.
Her muscles tensed, and the pleas faded, until all that filled the empty kitchen were her broken breaths and small squeaks that ruptured into full-blown screams.
Her fists thumped the countertop on either side of me before unfurling and gripping the edge. “Nick! Oh, God! Nick!”
Tiny contractions beat against my fingers as her orgasm crashed over her. She slid over the edge, and I caught her, lifting her into my arms. Cradling her like a child, I kissed her with the same desperation that hammered through my body.
I needed to bury myself inside of her, so deep it’d have her clawing at my back, caught between begging me for mercy and praying I’d keep going.
Lips locked, I blindly carried her up the stairs, to my bedroom, my body strung the fuck out, with her arms wrapped around my neck, her fingers digging into my nape. I could hardly breathe after the long trek up, but I didn’t care. I was so frantic to have her in my bed, I’d have crawled on my goddamn knees with her in my arms to get there.
Once inside, I lay her back against the mattress. With her dark hair fanned across the sheets, her eyes hooded, cheeks flushed, lips full and swollen with kisses, she damn near stole my breath.
Dread struck the pit of my stomach and spread to my head. That same dread stole the enticing image of her sprawled across my mattress, blackening it to darker visuals of her chained to my bed, trembling at my approach. It wouldn’t end well. Sex in the last three years hadn’t.
The thought was enough to make me pause. Because I didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t even want to take a chance. Pleasuring her might’ve kept the blackness at bay , but if I took her, if I selfishly fucked her to sate myself, was there a chance I could kill her? The injury to my head had fucked with my brain. I didn’t know what I was capable of anymore.
“Stay here. I’ll be back,” I said.
Her brows came together in what I could only surmise as confusion, but still, I slipped into the adjacent bathroom and turned on the water.
From my holster, I nabbed the long blade and set it to my skin. Purge it. Get the poison out before the shit consumes you. I made three small slices on my forearm, a hiss escaping me as the crimson venom slid down my arm, and my cock painfully hardened inside my briefs.
Quickly undoing my belt, I pushed my jeans to the floor and reached down, gripping my dick as I braced a hand on the edge of the sink.
I had to make the moment about her. Not me. If I fucked her, things would end up the way they always had.
My expression in the mirror carried pain—the pain of needing release so bad it had me bent over myself. Pain of knowing there was something dark inside of me, capable of hurting her.
Long strokes along my shaft left me wanting more, wanting to be buried inside of Aubree, with her ass high, screams muffled into the pillow.
I closed my eyes and pictured the scene, so vivid in my head. “Fuck yes,” I whispered, imagining myself sliding into that slick pussy, until I became lost, so lost.
Hands drifted down my stomach, and I jerked back when she grabbed hold of my dick. “Shit!”
“Shhhh.” Her grip tightened, and she kissed my arm, ignoring the wounds there. “Turn around.”
“I can’t do this.” Through deep breaths, I fought the urge to stroke myself in front of her.
“Because of me? Because I’m married?”
Shit, there was that, too. Not that I gave a fuck about Michael Culling. “Because I can’t.” I attempted to stuff my dick back into my briefs, but she batted my hand out of the way.
“I have to tell you something. Please.”
With some reluctance, I turned to face her.
“Nick …” Her gaze fell from mine, as if she suddenly couldn’t look at me. “I’m so used to men taking from me. Using me. From an early age, sex has always been about getting them off and enduring their pain.”
The thought had my stomach clenching, and, like a crazy bastard, I wanted to punch every motherfucker who’d ever laid a hand on her.
She shook her head. “I’ve never felt what you made me feel downstairs. No one has ever … left me wanting so much more, the way you did. Please.” She fell to her knees, looking up at me while her tongue circled the head of my dick in a way that shot hot bullets of lust straight through my veins like a drug. Those crazy fucking pistol lips of hers, slipping along my shaft in slow torment, left me weak in the knees. “Let me do this. I want to. I need to.”
Everything inside of me roared a warning. Don’t do it. Except, her tongue … that fucking tongue licking and sucking my head had me messed up like a bastard on a monster dose of E.
When she took me all the way to the base, while cupping my balls, I had to grab the edge of the sink again. Up and down, up and down, she bobbed, twisting and circling, like a goddamn pro.
I tangled my fingers in her hair and tipped my head back. Fuck, yeah.
My breaths arrived hard and fast, and I gripped tight to her hair, damn near staggering with each intense suck. The light graze of her teeth along my shaft added twinge of pain to the pleasure.
She upped the pace and made me nearly whimper like a bitch when she popped off, until those lips found my balls, sucking them as if I’d laced them with crack.
Massaging her skull, I followed each pull of my cock with a thrust of my hips, gnawing the inside of my mouth to keep from slamming into her throat.
“Goddamn it, Aubree.” My voice rasped with the tension curling through my muscles. “You’ve got me one stroke from losing my mind.”
All sense of right and wrong went to shit, and I lifted her from the floor, suddenly ravenous when her tits jostled with the movement. I rolled her nipples between my fingers, claiming her mouth with a kiss, then spun her around to face the mirror.
Long, brunette locks framed her beautiful face as her half-hooded eyes lit with arousal, and she bit her lip. Her body writhed, ass grinding against my dick, waiting, patiently waiting.
I dragged a finger down her spine, trailing it with a kiss. Reaching her scar, I kissed her there before I shoved her panties aside and pushed my finger inside of her.
The groan that escaped me bounced off the walls. “So fucking wet.” Curling over her, I bit her shoulder.
She jerked with an, “Ah!” and curved her ass higher, like a horned-up kitten.
Slow and steady, I pumped in and out, teasing, high on the look of sheer ecstasy plastered to her face, the half-shuttered eyes.
“Mmmm, you feel so good. Please, I need more. Give me more, Nick.”
The request was enough to break me. I caught both of her arms behind her back, holding them captive with one hand, while I pumped my fingers into her with the other.
A quick sweep of her tongue along her bottom lip, and her mouth gaped again, as moans ripped out of her. She stared back at me in the mirror, eyes locked on mine, brows drawn as in a silent plea.
Faster , I slammed into her like a piston, reveling in the feel of her wetness dripping down her leg as I nudged her thighs further apart. Sensing the blackness seeping in from my periphery, I slowed it down, taking long strokes in and out. Can’t risk the blackout. Didn’t want to lose the moment to it. Just a little longer. Please.
The warm vanilla scent, as I buried my nose in her hair, sent waves of calm through my muscles and battled the rolling clouds of doom.
She tipped her head back, her skin carrying a sheen. �
�Nick, fuck me. Please. I want you inside of me.”
“You want more?” I gritted out in a rasp.
“Yes!”
“Say it.”
“Please, give me more.”
“Say my name.”
“Nick, please. Give it to me. I need it.”
I gripped her head and leaned forward. “What are you doing to me?” I whispered, my entire body quaking with tension.
She stared at me in the mirror. “Make me come.”
I curved my finger up inside of her, and as a scream ripped from her chest, blackness leaked into my periphery like ink spreading across a white page.
I grabbed her throat.
32
Aubree
Arms pinned behind my back, palm squeezing my throat, I ground my ass against Nick’s cock, as he stood unmoving, staring at me through the bathroom mirror while his tongue swept across those smirky lips of his.
Teasing? The sweet torture. How long would he keep me like that?
He spun me around to face him, setting my ass up onto the cold tiles. His teeth grazed my earlobe, fingers wrapped around my throat, but not tight, just enough to say, you belong to me.
And, God, I did. The bastard owned me, which was saying something because nobody owned me. Not anymore.
Those eyes of his overpowered everything—my willpower, my patience, my sanity. Dark. Mysterious. Dangerous. They did things to the body, silent little commands, assuring that, one way or another, I was fucked.
I stared into his crisp blue irises, so bright they appeared to be powered by tiny electrical storms of lightning. An icy chill climbed my spine. He was the only one who could take me to a place where no one else could. A place where I was free. My salvation rested in the hands of a cold-blooded killer.
The tension that’d been building between us for days had finally pulled taut, ready to snap at any second. A quiver of anticipation ran through my body as I waited, my muscles burning, heart hammering a steady cadence of excitement inside my chest.
I wanted the man before me. A beautiful, dangerous and mysterious man, who reduced me to nothing more than a giddy schoolgirl under the weight of his intense stare. I wanted to get lost in those eyes, drown inside of them, never to surface again. Forget about my world, my past.
